Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Pay Now, Play Later?: Youth And Adolescent Collision Sports, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

The routine and repeated head impacts experienced by athletes in a range of sports can inflict microscopic brain injuries that accumulate over time, even in the absence of concussion. Indeed, cumulative exposure to head impacts—not number of concussions—is the strongest predictor of sports-related degenerative brain disease in later life. The observable symptoms of disease appear years or decades after initial injury and resemble those of other mental-health conditions such as depression and dementia. The years-long interval between earlier, seemingly minor, head impacts and later brain disease has long obscured the connection between the two.

Risk of injury differs across demographics, …

Concussions And Contracts: The National Football League's Limitations To Protecting Its Players From Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Julia Wolpert

Journal of Law and Health

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative brain injury that has become prevalent among high-contact professional sports, especially American football. More and more retired players are exhibiting symptoms of CTE and being diagnosed with CTE post-mortem. While the neuroscience community constantly releases studies showing a causal connection between brain trauma and CTE, the National Football League (NFL) continues to deny that any brain injury can arise from playing football. The NFL must implement provisions in their contracts to fully inform and protect players from this lethal brain injury. This article examines the repercussions of CTE, how players’ contracts do and …

Time For Change: Stepping Up The Fda's Regulation Of Dietary Supplements To Promote Consumer Safety And Awareness, George Kennett

Journal of Law and Health

People are often looking for that quick fix when it comes to their health. With dietary supplements so readily available on the market, the public assume that they have been through rigorous testing. Dietary supplements are not tested as much as consumers believe. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not initiate the same type of testing and analysis for supplements as it does for food, drink and medication. Given that people are now choosing supplemental meal replacements and the like, as opposed to whole foods, regulations drastically need to be stepped up in an effort to emphasise public safety. …

Brief Of Amici Curiae National Health Law Program And National Network Of Abortion Funds Supporting Petitioners-Cross-Respondents, Maya Manian, Jill E. Adams, Sara Ainsworth, Abigail K. Coursolle, Yvonne Lidgren, Sarah Somers, Melanie R. Medalle

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

No abstract provided.

Protecting Health Information In Utero: A Radical Proposal, Luke Isaac Haqq

Journal of Law and Policy

This Article introduces an underappreciated space in which protected health information (“PHI”) remains largely unprotected, a fact that will become only more problematic as clinical medicine increasingly turns to genomics. The past decade has seen significant advances in the prevention of birth defects, especially with the introduction of clinical preconception, prenatal, and neonatal genomic sequencing. Parental access to the results of embryonic and fetal clinical sequencing is critical to reproductive autonomy; results can provide parents with important considerations in determining whether to seek or avoid conception, as well as in deciding whether to carry a pregnancy to term. The information …

Puff Puff Pass The Legislation: A Comparison Of E-Cigarette Regulations Across Borders, Rachel E. Zarrabi

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This comment explores the types of legislation, approaches to regulating e-cigarettes, and analyzes whether the FDA’s campaign and current regulations are effective. So far, it appears that the United States is ahead of the game with its new, aggressive proposal for regulating e-cigarettes. The FDA is standing against the companies and products that target youthful consumers. Most countries acknowledge the gaps in current scientific research regarding the long-term health risks of vaping, and some are waiting to take a legislative stance until it is clearer which side of the health line e-cigarettes fall. Section II of this comment discusses the …

Examining Pharmaceutical Exceptionalism: Intellectual Property, Practical Expediency, And Global Health, Govind Persad

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Advocates, activists, and academics have criticized pharmaceutical intellectual property ("pharma IP") rights as obstacles to access to medicines for the global poor. These criticisms of pharma IP holders are frequently exceptionalist: they focus on pharma IP holders while ignoring whether others also bear obligations to assist patients in need. These others include holders of other lucrative IP rights, such as music copyrights or technology patents; firms, such as energy companies and banks, that do not rely on IP; and wealthy private individuals. Their resources could be used to aid patients by providing direct medical assistance, funding prizes or biomedical research, …

Tensions And Exclusions: The Knotty Policy Encounter Between Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights And Hiv, Susana T. Fried, Aziza Ahmed, Luisa Cabal

Faculty Scholarship

The International Conference on Population and Development or ICPD (Cairo, 1994) provided a global policy framework centred on reproductive rights instead of population control. Global standards on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and on HIV rapidly expanded throughout the 1990s.1 Considerable activist mobilisation in both arenas advanced health issues as politically salient decision-making venues where human rights and health advocacy were urgently needed, rather than scientific and technical showcases.

The ICPD, quickly followed by the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), stressed that reproductive rights are anchored in governments’ human rights obligations and development commitments, including to …

Frontiers In Precision Medicine Iv: Artificial Intelligence, Assembling Large Cohorts, And The Population Data Revolution, Adam Bress, Rich Albrechtsen, Monika Baker, Jorge L. Contreras, Zachary Fica, Austin Gamblin, Chelsea Ratcliff, Bianca E. Rich, Matt A. Szaniawski, Alyssa Thorman, Chad Vansant-Webb, Willard Dere

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Large cohort studies and more recently electronic medical records (EMR) are being used to collect massive amounts of genetic information. Implementation of artificial intelligence has become increasingly necessary to interpret this data with the goal of augmenting patient care. While it is impossible to predict what the future holds, policy makers are challenged to create guiding principles and responsibly roll out these new technologies. On March 22, 2019, the University of Utah hosted its fourth annual Precision Medicine Symposium focusing on artificial intelligence, assembling large cohorts, and the population data revolution. The symposium brought together experts in medicine, science, law …

Digital Health Privacy In Active-Aging Settings: Will The Law Let You Age Well?, Tara Sklar, Richard Carmona, Kathie Insel, Christopher Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

What is privacy and how are our interpretations of it changing with advances in technology? This question, and concerns around potentially violating a person’s right to privacy, have been emerging across industries around the world. Senior living providers have increased their exposure to privacy risks with the shift to implementing sensors throughout their communities. Typically located in digital health devices that can be worn on the body or placed in the environment, these sensors are capable of collecting and tracking data relevant to a person’s health and well-being on a continuous monitoring basis.
/="/">
/="/">There are privacy laws and …

J Mich Dent Assoc November 2019

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Every month, The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association brings news, information, and features about Michigan dentistry to our state's oral health community and the MDA’s 6,200+ members across the state. No publication reaches more Michigan dentists! This month's Special Legislative issue focuses on legislative and insurance advocacy updates from the MDA legislative team, HIPAA compliance actions you should take, and an invitation to participate in a silver diamine fluoride research study.

Combatting The Opioid Epidemic In Texas By Holding Big Pharma Manufacturers Liable, Katherine Spiser

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

Critical Reviews Of Flawed Research On Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Procreative Autonomy In Gestational Surrogacy Contracts, Vanessa Nahigian

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

With the growing practice of gestational surrogacy, many women bear children with whom they have no genetic relationship, allowing intended parents to have children of their own when they are otherwise unable to do so. This practice, however, creates a ripple in the abortion debate. This Note addresses procreative autonomy in the context of gestational surrogacy agreements, examines the underlying constitutional interests at stake for each party involved, and suggests a solution to fill California’s current statutory void.

Public Health Research Priorities To Address Female Genital Mutilation Or Cutting In The United States, Holly G. Atkinson, Deborah Ottenheimer, Ranit Mishori

Publications and Research

Female genital mutilation or cut- ting (FGM/C), an age-old tradition that is still widely practiced around the world, is gaining recognition as an important public health issue in the United States. Increasingly, because of migration, women and girls affected by FGM/C have become members of host communities where the practice is not culturally acceptable.

According to recent conservative estimates, more than 513 000 immigrant women and girls living in the United States have undergone or are at risk for FGM/C, a significant increase from the 1990 estimate of 168 000. The arrests of physicians in Michigan in 2017 for performing …

Made To Order: Using Gubernatorial Executive Orders To Promote Health In All Policies, Maxim Gakh

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

The Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach presents different and often complementary avenues to address the social determinants of health. But at its core, HiAP relies on collaborations to make health a governmental priority across sectors. In the United States, HiAP efforts can involve multiple levels of government and strategies that may vary in formality. In some states, state-level HiAP efforts may be advanced by gubernatorial executive orders (GEOs). GEOs are often used to promote health. GEOs may be powerful in the HiAP context because of their potential to manage the different sectors that comprise state government and thereby address …

Bad Company? The Rise (Again) Of Association Health Plans, Brendan Williams

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This article first examines the rule adopted by the DOL and the criticism it has drawn. It then assesses the state of the small-group insurance market for small businesses, and the flawed approach that the ACA took to assisting them. Finally it takes a look at the uncertain future for small businesses and health insurance, and it suggests new approaches

Measles And Misrepresentation In Minnesota: Can There Be Liability For Anti-Vaccine Misinformation That Causes Bodily Harm?, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, John Diamond

San Diego Law Review

Balancing protecting and compensating victims of harmful fake news and protecting freedom of speech and the information flow is both important and challenging. Vaccines are one area where misinformation can directly cause harm. When misrepresentation leads people to refuse vaccines, disease outbreaks can happen, causing harm, even deaths, and imposing costs on the community. The tort of negligent misrepresentation that causes physical harm appears a custom-made remedy for those affected. However, courts—appropriately— narrowed the tort to protect freedom of speech and the flow of information. This Article uses an especially egregious example of anti-vaccine misrepresentation to examine the boundaries of …

Is Affording Undocumented Immigrants Health Coverage A Radical Proposal?, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

During the Democratic presidential debate on July 31, all 10 candidates raised their hands when asked if they would provide health insurance to undocumented immigrants. Among all Democratic ideas for health reform, this is least popular. A recent poll found that only 38% of respondents approve. The idea drew extensive criticism, which is understandable: Why should the United States provide health coverage for people who don’t have a legal right to be here? Extending coverage could be seen as rewarding individuals who have violated the law.

There are, however, strong reasons to afford health coverage for this population: modest economic …

Ending Pandemics: Us Foreign Policy To Mitigate Today’S Major Killers, Tomorrow’S Outbreaks, And The Health Impacts Of Climate Change, Matthew M. Kavanagh, Harsha Thirumurthy, Rebecca Katz, Kristie L. Ebi, Chris Beyrer, Jamila Headley, Charles B. Holmes, Chris Collins, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Every U.S. President in recent decades has had to respond to at least one pandemic disease. Political leadership has proven decisive. In the coming years, U.S. foreign policy will face at least three inter-related issues: today’s major pandemics of AIDS, TB, and Malaria; future outbreaks with the potential to become pandemics; and rising risk from infectious diseases associated with climate change. A review of epidemiologic data shows global progress on each issue is threatened. A coordinated U.S. effort, across agencies and engaged with national and multilateral partners, could save lives and address significant foreign policy interests. Such an effort could …

Cash Me Outside–An Alternative To Wasteful Medical Spending In Terminally Ill Patients, Christopher Neal Loy, Jr.

Florida Law Review

The U.S. health care system is an inefficient machine that is burdened by overconsumption and wasteful spending. The system has long defaulted into maximizing the quantity of life over quality—a choice influenced by corporations that stand to profit with every additional procedure. To stymie health care spending and attempt to restore the true cost of treatment to patients, this Note proposes an alternative to how health insurers provide options to terminally ill cancer patients by offering a partial cash rebate to forgo any life-extending measures. The patient would be free to leave his or her legacy, the health insurer would …

Investing In The Ill: The Need To Curb Third-Party Payment Of Qualified Health Plan Premiums, Brad M. Beall

Florida Law Review

Hospitals and physicians have begun encouraging their high-cost patients to switch from Medicare or Medicaid to government-subsidized Qualified Health Plans by offering to pay their insurance premiums. Providers make these third-party payments because insurance payouts are much higher under Qualified Health Plans than under Medicare or Medicaid. However, this practice is not always in the best interests of patients, issuers, and the health-care Marketplace. This Note delineates the regulatory responses to this issue, as well as the various advantages and disadvantages that stem from the practice in different contexts. This Note argues that a federal criminal statute is needed to …

Affordability Boards: The States’ New Fix For Drug Pricing, Tara Sklar, Christopher Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

A new Maryland law that creates a prescription-drug affordability board to help the state regulate drug prices may be a harbinger of what’s to come in drug-pricing legislation. The law permits cost reviews when drug prices or price increases exceed specified thresholds. Establishing affordability boards may be a natural next step that more states take to exert a stronger influence over price spikes and still survive legal challenges.

Law & Health Care Newsletter, Fall 2019

Law & Health Care Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Prisoner's Dementia: Ethical And Legal Issues Regarding Dementia And Healthcare In Prison, David M. N. Garavito

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

The general population has been aging, leading to greater prevalence of age-related diseases such as dementia. However, given their environment and history with injury and illness, inmates provide a unique population that holds potentially the greatest risk for dementia. Despite this, few prisons provide the resources necessary to diagnose and care for those individuals who have dementia. The Supreme Court, in Estelle v. Gamble and its progeny, have set an extremely low standard for providing care for inmates, and legislation has protected prisons from lawsuits over lack of care for emotional or mental illnesses and injuries without physical manifestation. Unless …

10th Annual Pegalis Law Group Health Law Colloquium, New York Law School

Health Law Society Publications

Federalism, ERISA, and State Single-Payer Health Care. How to Make Sense of Future Legislation and the Impact on Population Health

(CLE Presentation on Oct. 24th 2019)

Moderator:

Adam S. Herbst, Esq., Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Strategic Planning Officer of Blythedale’s Children Hospital; Adjunct Professor at New York Law School teaching Health Law and Policy; Co-director of the NYLS Health Law and Patient Safety Project; Lecturer, Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University

Panelists:

Honorable Richard N. Gottfried, New York State Assembly (District 75) & Chairman of the Assembly's Committee on Health and Sponsor of …

The Federalism Challenges Of Protecting Medical Privacy In Workers' Compensation, Ani B. Satz

Indiana Law Journal

Under current law, injured workers face a Hobson’s choice: They may file for workers’ compensation or maintain their medical privacy. The reason for this is that § 164.512(l) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Privacy Rule (HPR) is widely misinterpreted by courts and legislatures as a wholesale waiver of privacy protections for injured workers. Section 164.512(l) excludes workers’ compensation from federal privacy protections that may frustrate the efficient administration of workers’ compensation claims. As the history and intent behind the HPR indicate, § 164.512(l) is premised on the assumption that states will protect workers’ privacy by creating and …

Contracting For Healthcare: Price Terms In Hospital Admission Agreements, George A. Nation Iii

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

This article discusses the application of contract law principles to the relationship between hospitals and patients to determine how much patients owe for the health care they receive. For patients who are covered by in-network health insurance the exact nature of the contract created with the hospital usually is not relevant to the patient’s financial obligation because the patient’s contract with the hospital is superseded by the contract between the patient’s health insurer and the hospital. Nevertheless, even in-network patients are financially impacted, via increased insurance premiums, by the contract analysis discussed here, and for the increasing number of patients …

When "Things" Go Wrong: Redefining Liability For The Internet Of Medical Things, Bethany A. Corbin

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Population Law And Policy: From Control And Contraception To Equity And Equality, Victoria Mather

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming